Keyword: gregoire

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who oversaw a moratorium on offshore drilling after the BP oil spill and promoted alternative energy sources, announced he will step down in March — and on the short list as a possible replacement is outgoing Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire.

OLYMPIA — Gov. Chris Gregoire proposed higher taxes on gas, soda, candy and gum Tuesday in order to avoid more government cuts and to help fund education in response to a court order. In her final budget plan, Gregoire said a budget without new revenues would force the closure of state parks, eliminate food assistance programs and cause additional cuts in education.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Chris Gregoire's time in office may be best remembered for the major deals she helped broker, often in late-night bargaining sessions in which negotiators were ordered to find a resolution. Now the Democrat, two months away from leaving Washington state government, is looking to finalize one more big agreement.

President Obama met with a group of Democratic governors on Friday and discussed plans to work around Congress toward policy goals. Gov. Jack Markell, the Democratic governor of Delaware and the vice chairman of the National Governors Association, told The Hill that the meeting was “very good” and said many of the governors were responsive to ideas about bypassing Congress. “There was a sense that none of us should wait, we can’t wait for things to happen in Congress,” Markell said of the meeting. “We’re going to do what we can do [now].” Obama has positioned himself against Congress as...

Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire February 13, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Gov. Christine Gregoire of Washington State has signed into law a gay â€śmarriageâ€ť bill that will force church-owned facilities to accommodate homosexual ceremonies. Gregoire, a lame-duck Democrat governor who proposed the bill earlier this year, celebrated the end of defining marriage as between a man and a woman as she signed the bill on Monday. â€śIâ€™m proud our same-sex couples will no longer be treated as separate but equal,â€ť she said. The bill makes Washington the sixth U.S. state to redefine marriage, in addition to the District of Columbia. Click...

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Chris Gregoire handed gay rights advocates a major victory Monday, signing into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage in Washington state, making it the seventh in the nation to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed. Gregoire signed the bill surrounded by gay rights supporters. “I’m proud our same-sex couples will no longer be treated as separate but equal,” she said. OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Chris Gregoire handed gay rights advocates a major victory Monday, signing into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage in Washington state, making it the seventh in the nation to...

As Washington's legislature works diligently to force homosexual marriage on its constituents, one of the more high-profile corporate entities in the Evergreen State has volunteered to help. In a January 24 statement, Starbucks vice president Kalen Holmes announced that the coffee retailing giant was proudly joining “other leading Northwest employers in support of Washington State legislation recognizing marriage equality for same-sex couples.” Holmes emphasized that the measure, which would legalize homosexual partnerships as equal with traditional marriage, “is aligned with Starbucks business practices” and is “core to who we are and what we value as a company.” The Seattle Times...

Gregoire blames Wall Street for state's budget messBy MANUEL VALDES Associated Press Published: Oct 29, 2011 at 9:31 AM PDT SEATTLE (AP) - Echoing President Barack Obama, Gov. Chris Gregoire said "this is what Wall Street has done to our state" when she proposed eliminating health insurance for the poor and reducing even further support for education and public safety. The shift to populous, national rhetoric was a change for the Democrat, as was her seeming willingness to at least consider tax hikes to help the state deal with a $2 billion budget deficit. While Republicans rapped Gregoire for blaming...

Gov. Chris Gregoire has called a 10 a.m. Monday news conference in Olympia to announce her future plans. The Democrat is expected to say whether she'll seek a third term. Congressman Jay Inslee says he'll run for governor if Gregoire does not.

The National Governors Association (NGA) announced Wednesday that Gov. Chris Gregoire was picked to chair the group. Gregoire was named chairwoman of the bipartisan organization of governors by the NGA executive committee. She becomes the second woman to lead the association.

Just days before Washington state voters decide whether to impose a first-ever state tax on six-figure incomes, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has jumped into the middle of the fray. With a week to go before the Washington ballot initiative, Perry, a Republican, has taken an unusually aggressive swipe at Gov. Chris Gregoire, a Democrat. Perry sent letters Friday to 90 leading businesses in Washington – including Amazon, Microsoft and Starbucks – inviting them to relocate to Texas, which also has no income tax. "If Washington doesn't want your business, Texas does,” said Perry. “Texas has no personal income tax and...

Democratic governors defend health care overhaulJon Lentz WASHINGTON Fri Jun 25, 2010 4:35pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A small group of Democratic governors this week launched a counter-attack over the federal healthcare overhaul, firing back against legal challenges from nearly two dozen state attorneys general who are seeking to overturn the new law. In a sign of the partisan divisions over the landmark health care law, each governor is a Democrat representing a state with a Republican attorney general trying to strike down the legislation. The governors of Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Washington requested permission to file an amicus, or...

WA Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) leads a short list to replace Solicitor General Elena Kagan, the WH has told members of Gregoire's home-state delegation. Gregoire, a 2-term incumbent and a former WA AG, has been a rumored contender for other admin positions. But the WH has informed top aides to WA members that she is under serious consideration, according to several sources inside the delegation. An admin official confirmed Gregoire's name is one of those being considered. Gregoire endorsed candidate Obama just before the WA caucuses in '08, offering a helping hand as Obama picked up two-thirds of the state's...

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Calling it a "sensible and modest" solution to Washington's historic budget crisis, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Friday approved a revenue package that nets roughly $780 million to avoid deeper cuts in education, health care and human services.Consumers will pay more for a basketful of convenience-store favorites: Soda, bottled water, major-brand beer, candy and cigarettes. Service businesses will send the state a larger share of their gross sales, from attorneys and lobbyists to hairdressers and janitors.Out-of-state companies also were targeted for more revenue, either by recalculating how taxes are charged or shrinking certain exemptions in response to court...

WA Legislature OKs tax increase for 911 upgrades THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OLYMPIA, Wash. -- State lawmakers have approved a bill that lets counties and the state increase taxes on land lines and cell phones to pay for 911 system upgrades. Voice-over-Internet phone services would be taxed as well under the bill, which got final approval from the state House on a 56-34 vote Friday.

Quietly, Democratic lawmakers have already moved to make it harder for Attorney General Rob McKenna to spend money suing the federal government over health care. The reaction to the Republican lawman joining a 13-state attack on President Obama's health care bill has come swiftly. Not only are Democrats considering a budget proviso blocking the lawsuit, but McKenna already faces new controls on his spending. Office of Financial Management Director Victor Moore sent a letter Tuesday revoking McKenna's blanket exemption to a freeze on state contracts. The exemption, which Moore had granted days earlier, allowed the attorney general's office to pay...

Gov. Chris Gregoire today directed state Corrections Chief Eldon Vail not to accept any new parolees from Arkansas until matters arising from the Maurice Clemmons case have been addressed and resolved. Glenn Kuper, a spokesman for the governor, said Gregoire was taking the unusual step because she wants "to make sure that the system is appropriate to protect Washington residents."

[V]oters in two liberal states on opposite ends of the country will also take up measures to limit spending. The outcomes will give us a clear sense of the public mood toward runaway spending. ... The voter-initiated measures on next month's ballot are modeled after Colorado's 1992 Taxpayer Bill of Rights (Tabor). They prohibit state spending from increasing faster than the growth of state population plus inflation in any given year. Extra revenue would be rebated back to the taxpayers, and if officials wanted to raise taxes beyond the limit they would have to seek a public referendum. Tabor worked...

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire appears to be softening her stance on raising taxes. Gregoire said today that her “door is open” to lawmakers and advocates who want to make the case for a tax package this January. Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports. A year ago when Gregoire was running for re-election this was how she responded to questions about higher taxes to offset budget cuts. Gregoire: “Now is not the time and I mean now meaning period not the time to consider raising anything.” 4.5 billion dollars in cuts later – and with the state facing yet another billion dollar...

Despite much fanfare, grandstanding and a whole bunch of twenty-somethings packing hearings with hopeful faces and "Cap & Invest, YES!" stickers, Governor Gregoire's requested climate change legislation failed. No matter. The governor signed an executive order today that all state agencies must "develop emissions reduction strategies and set benchmarks for industry emissions." If you can't beat 'em, steamroll 'em, right? She is, of course, within her legal right to do so. More details on her executive order from the TVW blog. Governor Gregoire is showcasing Hayek's classic dilemma of the economic planner. Essentially, Hayek notes the obvious--that agreement...

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire sidestepped her Legislature's refusal to adopt a cap-and-trade program to limit greenhouse gases, signing an executive order Thursday to achieve similar reductions by ratcheting back coal-fired electricity and automobile emissions. "I wanted cap-and-trade. I didn't get it," said Gregoire, a Democrat, whose order directs government agencies to expand public transit and other programs to meet auto emissions goals, and to reach agreement with the state's only coal-fired power plant to reduce its carbon output at least 50% by 2025. The order also calls for development of an even wider-ranging set of emission reduction strategies to achieve...

SEATTLE -- Conservative blogger Stefan Sharkansky says King County has agreed to pay him $225,000 to settle a public records lawsuit over the county's failure to release documents about the 2004 governor's election. Sharkansky filed his request in December 2004, seeking a list of everyone who voted in the election that year, but the county didn't satisfy the request until more than three years later. He says the documents that were ultimately provided revealed that elections officials in King County counted hundreds of ineligible ballots, which could have changed the outcome of the razor-thin race between Democrat Chris Gregoire and...

An e-mail from a state labor group linking campaign donations to contentious worker-rights legislation has prompted legislative leaders to kill the bill and request an investigation by law enforcement. The e-mail raises "serious legal and ethical questions," Gov. Chris Gregoire and the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate said in a joint statement Wednesday. They referred the issue to the Washington State Patrol for investigation. Lawmakers would not release the e-mail, but a copy was obtained by The Seattle Times. It was sent to several members of labor organizations as well as a small number of state lawmakers. The...

NY Times ^ | Published: February 22, 2009 | ROBERT PEAR and J. DAVID GOODMAN

Governors’ Fight Over Stimulus May Define G.O.P. By ROBERT PEAR and J. DAVID GOODMAN Published: February 22, 2009 WASHINGTON — Republican governors split sharply over the weekend over how to respond to the economic crisis, a debate whose outcome will go a long way toward shaping how the national party redefines itself in the wake of its election defeats of recent years.While the $787 billion stimulus bill might help avert draconian budget cuts by deeply stressed states, Republican governors clashed over just how much of the stimulus money to accept. And governors of both parties said that they did not...

SEATTLE -- Gov. Chris Gregoire has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday morning that's shrouded in secrecy, but KIRO 7 Eyewitness News has learned that she will not announce that she's joining the Obama Administration. The governor's office said Monday that Gregoire is out of state. She canceled an Olympia speaking engagement set for Tuesday, and she will make an announcement Tuesday at 10 a.m. via satellite to local reporters. A number of bloggers speculated the governor would be named as president-elect Obama's Commerce Secretary after New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson withdrew from the running. An Obama spokesman, Robert Gibbs,...

Gov. Chris Gregoire is out of state, but her office won't say where she is. Gregoire was set to be the keynote speaker Tuesday at a pre-legislative session forum sponsored by The Associated Press, but her office canceled Monday afternoon. Legislative director Marty Brown will stand in for Gregoire at the forum. Spokesman Pearse Edwards said that Gregoire will be making an announcement Tuesday morning, and that no further information would be released before then.

SEATTLE—Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire wants illegal immigrants serving time in state jails deported, a move intended to save the state more than $9 million in the next two-year budget. The deportation proposal is modeled after a program in Arizona that has saved the state more than $18.5 million since 2005, said Eldon Vail, Secretary of the state Department of Corrections. "It's not an ideal choice, if revenue was there, I'd say have them do their time," Vail said. "Is justice better served? It's a tough question to wrestle with when you don't have resources." The state faces a $5.7 billion...

How the Democrats 'won' the Washington governor's mansion in 2004. Sorry Minnesota, but the sequel is never as good as the original. For those who watched the Washington State governor's race recounts in 2004, the ongoing recount drama in Minnesota is just another rehash of the same script -- albeit for a U.S. Senate seat that might put Democrats one vote away from a filibuster-proof majority. Four years ago in Washington, Democratic Party candidate Christine Gregoire lost the first count, lost the recount, and then won a second, highly dubious recount by 133 votes. In Minnesota, where Sen. Norm Coleman...

How the Chicago corruption story and other lavish raids on the public treasury (and trust) could induce an angry populist backlash. The federal charges against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich are only the most recent and prominent episode in a series of events which are building toward a bigtime populist backlash. Corruption in Illinois, as in Louisiana, New Jersey, Nevada, Rhode Island, oldtime Boston, and other notorious political venues, should come as no big shock. Yet Blagojevich's pattern of conduct, as revealed in the charges, was so blatant and reckless that you wonder why it took so many years to be...

Just in time for the Christmas season, Washington State Gov. Christine Gregoire has insulted Christians all over the world. Inside the state Capitol building in Olympia there is a traditional holiday display featuring a tree and the Nativity scene; perfectly appropriate since the federal and state Christmas holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. But this year Gregoire decided to add another item to the display. Standing alongside the baby Jesus is a giant placard designed by atheists that reads: "There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion...

This past week, Gov. Chris Gregoire of Washington State allowed—in the spirit of multiculturalism and intellectual-immolation for which the Northwest is (in)famous—a large sign to be placed next to a Nativity scene and a Christmas holiday tree (and a menorah) in the Legislative Building in Olympia, Washington: "At this season of THE WINTER SOLSTICE may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds." Yes, I am truly shocked: I cannot believe that a Nativity scene and...

OLYMPIA, Wash. - A controversial anti-religion placard was reported missing from the state Capitol Friday - then later found - and now the sign's sponsor wants the State Patrol to provide special protection for it when it is returned. The uproar came as several other groups clamored for permission to post their own holiday displays at the state Capitol. The anti-religion sign, posted by the Freedom From Religion Foundation in Madison, Wis., was reported missing Friday morning then was turned over to a Seattle radio station by an unidentified man at about 10 a.m. Annie Laurie Gaylor, a spokesman for...

Just in time for the Christmas season, the Governor of Washington State, Christine Gregoire, has insulted Christians all over the world. Inside the state capitol building in Olympia, there is a traditional holiday display featuring a tree and the Nativity scene-perfectly appropriate since the Christmas federal and state holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. But this year, Governor Gregoire decided to add another item to the display. Standing alongside the baby Jesus is a giant placard designed by atheists that reads, "There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural...

Sunday, October 19, 2008 - Page updated at 12:00 AM Dino Rossi for governor DINO Rossi should be elected governor Nov. 4 because he can best be trusted to erase the state's huge projected deficit without raising taxes. Under Gov. Christine Gregoire, state government during the good years built up a mass of programs, promises and public spending. Now the economy is in recession, and unless taxes are to be raised on people already struggling — a bad idea — state spending will have to be cut about 10 percent. To do that, the people need a governor who has...

Around the United States, Barack Obama's presidential fortunes have improved significantly in recent weeks. Since Sept. 15, when Lehman Brothers went under and the stock market began its free fall, Obama has opened somewhere between a 5 percent and 10 percent national lead over John McCain. Surveys of registered and likely voters - compiled faithfully and neutrally at pollster.com - suggest that the race has moved in Obama's favor in state after state: New Hampshire, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. In many of these places, Democrats running for the U.S....

King County Superior Court Judge Richard Eadie ruled Friday that Republican governor candidate Dino Rossi could keep his designation as "prefers GOP Party" on the November General Election ballot. The Washington State Democrats sued to force Rossi to describe himself as a Republican. Some voters might be confused about what "GOP" means, a King County Superior Court judge said Friday, but that's not reason enough to change the way gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi describes himself on the general election ballot. State Democrats sued last week, saying Rossi was trying to hide his party affiliation because of low approval ratings for...

Seattle (AP) -- A judge says the word "Republican" doesn't have to appear next to Dino Rossi's name on the November ballot for the Washington governor's race. Rossi had listed his affiliation as "prefers GOP party," referring to the Republicans' Grand Old Party nickname. Democrats sued this week after a survey showed Rossi had more voter support with the "GOP" tag than he did with the "Republican" tag.

Olympia, Wash. (AP) -- Washington state Democrats sued a state official Tuesday to get a Republican listed on the ballot, arguing a candidate is obscuring his party identity by ballot language that says he "prefers GOP party." The candidate, Dino Rossi, is facing a rematch this November with Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire, who beat him by 133 votes four years ago after three counts and a court challenge. The lawsuit the party filed against Secretary of State Sam Reed argues that "allowing Mr. Rossi to obscure his true party preference and affiliation directly violates the law, would mislead a substantial...

Democrats are expected to make strong gains in state legislatures this fall, but what do these stronger Democratic majorities mean? A look at Washington State may show what is in store for the rest of the country. Public employee unions are handing over vast amounts of money to the incumbent governor's re-election campaign, while the governor is simultaneously sitting at the bargaining table negotiating contracts with these very unions. If it seems inappropriate for the governor, Christine Gregoire, who is locked in a very tight re-election, to benefit personally from the parties that her office is negotiating with, that's just...

Democrats are expected to make strong gains in state legislatures this fall, but what do these stronger Democratic majorities mean? A look at Washington State may show what is in store for the rest of the country.Public employee unions are handing over vast amounts of money to the incumbent governor's re-election campaign, while the governor is simultaneously sitting at the bargaining table negotiating contracts with these very unions. If it seems inappropriate for the governor, Christine Gregoire, who is locked in a very tight re-election, to benefit personally from the parties that her office is negotiating with, that's just your...

John McCain will be nominated this week as the Republican candidate for president. He likely will ride effortlessly through the party's national convention in St. Paul, MN. But in Washington state, McCain will share the ballot this fall with Republicans trying to distance themselves from the national party and doing little to link arms with the McCain campaign. Dino Rossi, a Republican who lists his party preference as "GOP Party," is doing his best to bask in Barack Obama's message of change as he tries to unseat Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire. Rossi talks so much about Obama on the campaign...

As Election Day draws closer, the governor’s race in Washington, a replay of the 2004 contest, keeps getting more competitive. Incumbent Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire now leads by just four percentage points. A month ago, she was up by six points over Republican challenger Dino Rossi. Two months ago, the incumbent held a seven-point lead and the month before that, Governor Gregoire enjoyed aneleven-point lead. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state shows Gregoire attracting 47% of the vote while Rossie earns 43%. This is the second straight month that Greogoire’s support has stayed below the 50% mark....

Gov. Chris Gregoire did Monday what families and businesses have been doing for months: She ordered cuts in travel and buying gasoline, a hiring freeze and a lid on major purchases for most state agencies. The effort is expected to save $90 million, making up for an unexpected $60 million drop in revenue in June. The lost income came from a slowdown in the housing market and lower business taxes than expected. "I am asking each of you to step up your efforts to increase savings. I ask that you be creative and take action now," Gregoire said in a...

Washington state GOP hits Michelle Obama I am glad I am not the only one who thinks Michelle Obama is fair game for saying the outrageous things she has said. In anticipation of her meeting with liberal Washington Governor Chris Gregoire, the state GOP produced this video. http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=zOcU-BP0T4c&rel=1&eurl=http%3A//www.typepad.com/t/app/weblog/post&iurl=http%3A//i.ytimg.com/vi/zOcU-BP0T4c/default.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskIJonIElc-TAm7UrL1cJB8M&fs=1&hl=en

Money poured in for a recount in Christine Gregoire's close race against Dino Rossi. Those supporters — including unions and a tribal-gambling group — have benefited during the governor's first termOLYMPIA — In late 2004, when Christine Gregoire's bid to become governor was engulfed in legal challenges, the state Democratic Party sent out a plea for help. The checks started rolling in almost immediately — $250,000 from the state's largest public-employee union, $50,000 from a tribal-gambling group, $25,000 from the state's main teachers union. Major national political groups also weighed in. That money, more so than the millions Gregoire received...

Governor says deal curbs the growth of Indian gamblingOLYMPIA -- Gov. Chris Gregoire is benefiting from more than $650,000 in campaign contributions from Indian tribes that hit the jackpot in 2005 when she killed a gambling compact potentially worth more than $140 million a year to the state. Unlike 22 other states that collect millions from revenue sharing agreements for tribal gambling, Washington gets no money from tribal casinos under the compact that Gregoire renegotiated with the Spokane Tribe. Gregoire backed away from the 2005 agreement that included revenue sharing in an attempt to keep gambling from expanding too quickly...